Treatment of oleaginous substances



May 28, 1968 L. s. WENGER ETAI- 3,385,709

TREATMENT OF OLEAGINO US SUBSTANCES Filed June 5, 1965 3 Sheets-Sheet 11 I a I i l l INVENTORS. Lava/1 6. Wenger y Zouis Wenger May 28, 1968 L.a. WENGER ETAL TREATMENT OF OLEAGINOUS SUBSTANCES 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 FiledJune 5, 1965 lll'l' R wig U 7mm 1 uvmvroas. Lava/7 5 Wenger 3y ZouisWenger 7 TOR/Vt Y5. 2

M Q E L. G. WENGER ET AL 3,385,709

3 Sheets-Sheet 5 m. T MN m e W A w w n J EE m a 0 L TREATMENT OFOLEAGINOUS SUBSTANCES Y En B Y J w \\\\\\\W\Mm R E A 1 a E i 1 m m 1 i\m g m: i? Q R R Q 3 5 Ta May 28, 1968 Filed June 5, 1965 United StatesPatent M 3,385,7ti9 TREATMENT (9F OLEAGINOUS SUBSTANCES Lavon G. Wengerand Louis Wenger, ahetha, Kane, as-

signors to Wenger Manufacturing, line, Sabetha, Karts, a corporation ofKansas Continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 136,010,

Sept. 5, 1961. This application June 3, 1965, Ser.

8 Claims. (Cl. 99-2) ABSTRACT 6F THE DISCLUSURE Continuous treatment ofoleaginous products, such as seeds or beans, for reduction of the growthinhibitors therein, by passing the product through a preconditioner inwhich team is injected to raise the temperature of the product of about180 to 210 F., passing the product through an extruder and increasingthe pressure in a coned nose section of the extruder so that the productemerges from said section at a temperature not lower than approximately250 F.

This is a continuation-in-part of our copending application Ser. No.136,010, filed Sept. 5, 1961, and entitled Treatment of OleaginousSubstances, now abandoned.

This invention relates to a method of continuous treatment of oleaginoussubstances and particularly to a novel process for efliciently treatingoleaginous agricultural products such as seeds or beans having growthinhibition material therein, to effectively destroy the inhibitors sothat the products may be fed to various types of animals.

It has been known for some time that certain oleaginous agriculturalproducts contain materials therein which act as growth inhibitors whenthe products are fed to certain animals or humans. For example, rawsoybeans cannot be fed to chickens and swine as well as young calves,because of a growth inhibitor in the raw beans which is known to inhibitthe activity of trypsin in the digestive system of the animals andthereby limiting the protein utilization by man or animal. Research workover a period of time indicated that the growth inhibitor could bedestroyed or repressed by cooking the meal prior to feeding of the sameto poultry, swine and young calves.

Trypsin is a proteolytic enzyme of the pancreatic juice which convertsproteins to peptones. Since peptones are defined as any one of a groupof diifusible, soluble substances produced by hydrolysis of proteins, itcan be seen that reduction of the amount of trypsin in the anirnalsdigestive system, or deactivation of a quantity of the trypsin,materially alfects the animals ability to completely convert proteinreceived in the digestive system. The growth inhibitor in uncookedsoybeans thereby partially destroys the ability of humans, poultry,swine, young beef calves (under one year) and other similar animals, toconvert protein as completely as possible into digestible peptones.Thus, in order to destroy the growth inhibitor contained in rawsoybeans, it has been found necessary to cook the beans prior toutilization of the same for feed purposes.

As used herein, the term growth inhibitor is meant to include thosesubstances contained in oleaginous agricultural products which are heatlabile in that they are destroyed or effectively repressed when exposedto heat of predetermined temperature, but until destroyed or repressedoperate to (a) make some nutritional factor unavailable to the animal;or (b) affect a specific growth factor such as modification of basicamino acids such as methionine, cystine and similar substances; or (c)to have an anti-enzymic ellect as for example, the eifect that thegrowth inhibitor in raw soybeans has on Patented May 28, 1968 trypsin inthe animal's digestive system. It is also to be understood that wheneverthe term bean is used along herein, it is meant to include beans as wellas seeds as these words are employed in this art.

Thus, in addition to soybeans, field beans and field peas and certainother pulses such as Bengal gram, chick pea, garbanzo, lima beans, navybeans, kidney beans, pinto beans, white beans, etc., have been found tocontain substances which meet the requirements set forth above withrespect to the definition of a growth inhibiting material. Studies haveshown that the growth inhibitors in field beans and field peas may alsobe repressed or destroyed by cooking or heating the agricultural productto a predetermined temperature level.

Problems have arisen in the treatment of soybeans, field beans and fieldpeas and certain other pulses of the foregoing types in an attempt todestroy or minimize the effect of the growth inhibitors on the animalsto which the products are fed. If heating or cooking of the raw productsis too severe, the nutritional value of the substances is substantiallyreduced, yet it is necessary to raise the temperature of the products toa suflicient level to effectively destroy the growth inhibition materialcontained in the oleaginous substances. Furthermore, the products areintended as feed for animals and therefore, it is necessary that thecost of treating the oleaginous products be maintained at an absoluteminimum in order to make the treatment process economically feasible.Batch methods of cooking the products have been employed but the sameare too expensive to be economically practicable on a large scale and,furthermore, necessitate the utilization of relatively large, expensiveequipment which is beyond the means of small operators who have limitedcapital and facilities available.

It is, therefore, the primary object of the present invention to providea method of treating oleaginous agricultural products or pulses having agrowth inhibitor therein, which may be carried out inexpensively, with aminimum amount of equipment and on any desired scale depending upon thequantities of the product to be processed by a particular operator.

A further important object of the invention is to provide a method oftreating oleaginous agricultural products of the types specified whereinheating of the products to a required level may be carried out on acontinuous basis and with the only requirement being the provision ofmeans for continuously supplying raw products to the treatment apparatusand removal of the cooked substance from the discharge end of theprocessing equipment.

Another object of the invention is to provide a continuous method oftreating oleaginous agricultural products having a growth inhibitortherein, wherein continuous heating of the products to a predeterminedlevel may be accomplished by employing equipment having apreconditioning chamber for initially raising the temperature of theproducts while the moisture content thereof is increased, and thenraising the temperature of the heated products to a sufficient level toeffect destruction or reduc tion of effects of the growth inhibitorscontained therein, by gradually increasing the pressure on the productsin a second zone until the temperature level thereof has been increasedto a predetermined point whereupon the pressure on the products isinstantaneously released, thereby effecting relatively rapid cooling ofthe oleaginous substances whereby the treatment process may be carriedout in a very etficient and inexpensive manner with a minimum of spacebeing required.

An additional important object of the invention is to provide a methodof continuously treating raw oleaginous agricultural products havinggrowth inhibitors therein, by utiliziation of equipment presently ownedby a large number of food and feed processing operators and with theequipment being usable for carrying out the present method by alterationof the apparatus to a minor degree, thereby obviating the necessity ofthe feed producers purchasing a large amount of new equipment orexpanding their plant facilities in order to accommodate the presenttreatment process. In this respect, it is an additional object of theinvention to provide a method of treating oleaginous agriculturalproducts as referred to above wherein expansion pelleting equipment, aswell as modified pellet mills, may be suitably equipped to effectcontinuous treatment of soybeans, field beans and field peas and certainother pulses in order to destroy the growth inhibitor therein.

A still further important object of the invention is to provide a methodof processing oleaginous agricultural products wherein the temperatureof the products is effectively raised to a level sufficient to effectdestruction or reduction of the growth inhibition material containedtherein, by the expedient of passing the products through a cone-shapedmember positioned with the narrow end thereof as the outlet so that thepressure on the products is gradually and progressively increased as theproducts are forced through the conical structure and thereby effectinggradual and progressive rise of the temperature of the oleaginoussubstances and minimizing the amount of external heat required to beintroduced into the products as the temperature of the same is raised toa predetermined level.

Another important object of the invention is to provide an efiicient andeffective method of treating oleaginous agricultural products havinggrowth inhibitors therein, and employing apparatus provided with meansfor surrounding the products with a zone of relatively high temperatureheat so that thermal energy is transferred di rectly into the products,structure for agitating the products to expose the moist surface areasof the oleaginous substances to the heated zone, and means forintroducing steam into the products during advancement thereof throughthe heated zone so that the temperature of the products is raised veryrapidly to substantially the level required to effect destruction of thegrowth inhibiting material. In this respect, it is a further importantobject to provide a method of effectively cooking an oleaginous productas set forth wherein efiicient introduction of heat into the product isobtained utilizing steam jacketed equipment and means for introducingsteam into the product but with a minimum quantity of moisture as steambeing introduced into the product during treatment thereof by virtue ofutilization of a novel cone through which the product is advanced tomaterially increase the pressure on the product and effect final raisingof the temperature level thereof to a point sufficient to destroy orreduce the effects of the growth inhibitors in the same.

It is yet a further object of this invention to provide a method oftreating full-fat oleaginous beans wherein the peak temperature of theproduct is achieved in the final stage of the treatment operation andwherein the peak temperature is maintained for a time period which issufficiently short to avoid harming the protein constituents of theproduct yet is adequate to destroy the growth inhibitors thereof.

Another object of the invention is to provide a method of treatingoleaginous agricultural products having growth inhibitors thereinwherein the final treated product is in a form adapting the same forlater incorporation into other foods and feeds, or pelleted afterprocessing.

Other important objects and details of the present method will becomeapparent or be explained in greater detail as the following descriptionprogresses.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary, side elevational view of apparatus which maybe advantageously employed in carrying out the present method oftreating oleaginous agricultural products;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary, end e'levational View of the apparatus shown inFIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged, transverse sectional view taken on the verticalline 33 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged, fragmentary, side elevational view similar toFIG. 1, parts being broken away and in section to reveal details ofconstruction;

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal, fragmentary, sectional view taken on line 55of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a transverse, sectional view taken on line 6-6 of FIG. 5,parts thereof being broken away and in section to further illustrate thedetails of construction of the same;

FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 5, but illustrating another form of theapparatus for carrying out the method; and

FIG. 8 is a view taken along line 38 of FIG. 7.

Briefly, the present method contemplates the grinding or linking ofwhole oleaginous seeds or pulses by some appropriate means andthereafter advancement of the ground oleaginous agriculture products tobe treated, continuously along a predetermined path of travel throughtreatment equipment in a manner to efficiently and quickly raise thetemperature of the products to a level sufiicient to destroy or reducethe effects of growth inhibition material contained in the products butwithout adversely affecting the nutritive value of the agriculturalproducts. In order to rapidly raise the temperature of the products tothe required level, the oleaginous substance is passed through a firstpreconditioning zone which is steam jacketed and has means forintroducing a quantity of steam into the products during agitation andadvancement thereof so that the products are raised to a temperature ofapproximately to 210 F. in a very short interval of time. Next, theheated products are passed through a second 'high speed mixing andconditioning zone where the temperature thereof is maintained atapproximately 200 to 215 F. and with relatively rapid agitation andtumbling of the material being effected in the second conditioning zoneto assure heating of all of the product to a uniform temperature.Finally, the product is forced through a third zone comprising anextrusion press fitted with a conical member to increase the pressure onthe product sufficiently to raise the temperature thereof to at leastapproximately 250 F. in order to destroy or reduce the effects of thegrowth inhibiting material contained in the agricultural product andwith the pressure on the substance being releascd as the same emergesfrom the conical member. The final material, which emerges from themachine in the form of one or more extruded ribbons, may be cut intosuitable pellet size for direct feeding to animals or may be reduced inparticle size thereafter to meal or granular form and minted there fterwith other feeds if desired.

Products to be treated pursuant to the method of the present inventionmay be introduced into the apparatus illustrated in the drawings andbroadly numerated 8, by way of a hopper l0 and illustrated in FIGS. 1and 2. The hopper 10 communicates with a housing 12 therebelow at oneend of the latter, and more particularly, with an elongated, horizontaltube 14 contained within the housing 12 and surrounded by insulation 16.Means for continuously and uninterruptedly conveying the product fromthe hopper lit to the opposite end of the housing 12, is containedwithin the tube 14 and takes the form of a cut'fiight screw 18coextensive in length with the tube 14 and having its shaft 20 disposedcoincidentally with the horizontal axis of tube 14. The screw 18 isrotated at a predetermined speed through the medium of a suitable primemover such as an electric motor 22 carried by the housing 12, andoperably coupled with the shaft 20 by chain and sprocket means 24. Thescrew 13 is characterized as a cut-flight conveyor by virtue of the factthat its helical convolutions are provided with a series of spacednotches 26 in the outer periphery thereof.

A second tube 28 within housing 12, below the tube 14 and in parallelismtherewith, is provided with a screw conveyor driven by the prime mover22 through chain and sprocket means 32. Tube 14 communicates at itsdischarge end with the tube 28; hence, the material therein is conveyedto the right viewing FIG. 1 and thereby effects dumping of the productinto a throat 34 (FIG. 4) that in turn communicates with a substantiallyshorter, norm-ally horizontal tube 36 therebelow. It can be seen thatthe throat 34 is directly below the hopper 10 and in vertical alignmentwith tubes 14 and 28. The tube 36 contains a blender or mixer 38provided with a multitude of paddles 40, extending radially from theshaft 42 carrying the same, it being noted that shaft 42 is in turndriven by belt and pulley means 44 operably coupled with an electricalmotor 46. Tube 36 communicates with an inlet 48 (FlG. 5) of an expansionpelleting head broadly designated 50 and adapted to be removably securedto housing 12. Conduit 52. serves to connect tube 36 with the inletthroat 48 whereby the product is conveyed laterally from conduit 52within the head 50.

The tubular housing 54 of head 50 is provided with a central section 56(having inlet 48 as an integral part thereof) and a pair of end sections58 and 60. Rifling 61 and 6-3 is provided in sections 56 and 58respectively, extending longitudinally thereof and around the entirecircumference of the inner surfaces thereof. Suitable fasteners 62interconnect the sections 56 and in endto-end relationship, and acircular, sectional clamp 64 surrounds the sections 56 and SS andthereby releasably interconnects the same. The section 56 contains arelatively long screw 66 in coaxial relationship therewith, as well as asome-what shorter screw e8, whereas the tapered end or head section 58is provided with a tapered screw 70. These three screws are driven by ashaft '72 passing through the section 60 and through a housing 74 foroperable connection with a prime mover 76 by way of belt and pulleymeans 78.

Bearings 80 within the end section 60 support the shaft 72 while seals82 and 84 surrounding shaft 72 within the end section 60 precludeleakage of lubricant from section 60. An additional rotating seal 86 onthe shaft 72 is journalled within end plate 88 of main section 56, whichend plate 88 also receives the fasteners 62.

A central driving shaft 90 for the screws 66, 6S and 70, connected toshaft 72 and projecting outwardly therefrom within section 56, issurrounded by the tubular shaft 92 of screw 66. The screw 68 alsosurrounds the shaft 00 and the latter extends into one end of the core94 of screw 70. Shaft 90 has longitudinally extending splines 96 thereonto provide a driving interconnection with all of the screws 66, 68 and70.

A steam lock die 98, having a plurality of circumferentially arrangeddie openings 99 therein (FIG. 6) is releasably clamped in place betweensections 56 and 58 in surrounding relationship to shaft 90 and receivesa bushing 100 which, in turn, carries a bushing 101 splined to shaft 90.Agitator 102 on shaft 90 adjacent the outer extremity of section 54, isinterposed between the bushings 100 and 101, and the proximal end of thescrew 68.

A die 104, having a number of openings 106 therein, is releasablyattached to the outermost free end of the conical nose section 58 by aclamp 108 and journals an extension 110 of the core 94. If desired, aknife assembly 112, keyed to the extension 110 for rotation therewith,is provided with a plurality of blades 114 held biased against the outerface of die 104 by spring means 116 forming a part of the assembly 112,it being understood that the blades 114 rotate continuously across thedie openings 106 with respect to the fixed die 104.

The preconditioner of the apparatus thus far described includes the dualstage steamer feeder contained in the housing 12 and themixing-conditioning tube or cylinder 36. Steam inlets 118 and 120communicate with the tubes 14 and 28 respectively to permit steam to beintroduced into the material contained therein. Steam inlets 122 and 124connected to housing 12 are provided for introducing steam into theinterior of housing 12 exteriorly of the tubes 14 and 28 respectively.

In a similar manner, steam is introduced into the cylinder 36 throughinlet 126 and to hollow casing surrounding the same through steam inlet128 (FIG. 1).

The head 50 is likewise provided with means to heat the material beingtreated and therefore, section 56 of the housing 54 has an inlet 134 forthe purpose of permitting steam to be introduced to the jacket ofsection 56. Similarly, a steam inlet 136 is provided in the hollowjacket of section 58 so that steam may be provided around cone section58. Jackets 138, 140 and 14-2 around the cylinder 36, the section 56 andthe section 58 respectively, receive the steam, and the housing 12,constructed as best seen in FIG. 3, serves as the jacket for the tubes14 and 28. Steam condensate return openings are provided for all of thejackets as for example at 134a and 136a as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4 withrespect to the jackets 134 and 136. Service doors 144 and 146 areprovided in the housing 12 to permit access to the tubes 14 and 28respectively.

The agricultural product to be treated in apparatus 3 is introducedthereinto through hopper 10 whereby the screw 18 conveys such materiallongitudinally of tube 14 as shaft 20 is rotated by motor 22 throughchain and sprocket means 24. It is important that the product beadvanced continuously and uninterruptedly from the time it enters thefirst tube 14 of the preconditioner, until the processed product isreleased from the head 50 through the die 104. This is important inorder to efiiciently and uniformly raise the temperature of the productto a required level in a minimum of time and without excessive heatingof such product, which might tend to reduce the nutritive value thereof.Hence, it is to be preferred that all of the prime movers for actuatingthe various material advancing components of the apparatus, as abovedescribed, be continuously operable simultaneously and also ofconstruction allowing the operator of apparatus 8 to readily andindependently vary the speed of operation of such motors, so that thematerial advancement may be accurately controlled at all times. Whetheror not the product can be choke-fed in the preconditioner depends uponoperating conditions and the nature of the product being treated. In anyevent, it is to be recognized that the product should be passed throughapparatus 8 at a speed to effect raising of the temperature thereof tothe desired level in a minimum of time and with raw products beingcontinuously introduced into the hopper 10 and also continuouslydisplaced from the head 50.

The cut-flight conveyors 18 and 30 serve the purpose of continuouslyadvancing the product along tubes 14 and 28 respectively while graduallyand progressively mixing and blending the raw product with steam andthereby effecting gradual and progressive raising of the temperature ofthe entire mass.

The preconditioner defined by tubes 14 and 28 accomplishes raising ofthe temperature of the product in a minimum of time by virtue of thefact that steam is introduced into the material through the inlets 118and 120 in an amount to raise the temperature of the product withoutexcessively increasing the moisture content thereof. In practice, it hasbeen found that the product moisture content should not be appreciablyraised more than 5% to 10% over the moisture level at which the productis introduced into hopper 10 and therefore, the screws 18 and 30 arecaused to rotate at a speed whereby the product will be raised to atemperature of from approximately F. to 210 F. before the heatedmaterial is caused to pass into the mixing conditioning chamber 36through the throat 34. Other factors important in raising of thetemperature of the product within tubes 14 and 28 include the steamjackets within housing 12 in surrounding relationship to the outersurfaces of tubes 14 and 28 and which serve to prevent heat loss to theatmosphere from the product itself, and also tending to assist inraising the temperature of the material as it is passed longitudinallythrough the heated zone and which might advantageously completelyenvelop the entire path of travel of the product from the time it entersthe first tube 14 until it is discharged from the head 50.

The mixing and conditioning cylinder 36 is designed to quickly,efiiciently and thoroughly agitate the material therewithin to assurethat all of the particles thereof are at substantially the sametemperature level, and is constructed in a manner to maintain theproduct at the time the same is directed into head 50, at the sameapproximate temperature of the product as the same enters cylinder 36through throat 34. Steam is preferably introduced into cylinder 36through inlet 126, thereby assisting in maintenance of the temperatureof the product at the desired level and also allowing the operator ofapparatus 8 to increase the temperature of the product at this point ifthe same is below the prescribed level. The steam within jacket 138surrounding tube 36 operates to prevent loss of heat from the productwithin cylinder 36 and in certain instances may raise the temperature ofthe product slightly as the same is conveyed longitudinally of cylinder36 by mixer 38. It can be seen that the paddles 40, which differ inpitch from the helical flights of screws 18 and 30, thoroughly agitatethe product to assure intimate admixture of the steam therewith andassures a uniform product temperature as the same is introduced into thehead 50.

It is noted additionally, that rise in temperature of the product is inpart accountable to mechanical friction which results from the pressuresthat are necessarily exerted upon the product as an incidence toadvancement of the same through the various cylindrical chambers by thescrews 26 and 28 as well as the mixer 38. After mixing and blending ofthe product within tube 36 by mixer 38, the product at a temperature ofapproximately 200 F. to 215 F. is then directed into head 50 throughthroat 48 whereby the screws 66 and 68 shift the product laterallytoward the conical section 58, and with the steam jackets 140 and 142around sections 54 and 58 serving to at least maintain the product atthe defined temperature and in fact, actually raising the temperaturethereof slightly. It can be seen that the temperature of the product isgradually and progressively raised in all of the sections.

Upon introduction of the heated material into head 50 from cylinder 36,the screw 66 shifts the material toward die 104, thereby effectingcompression of the prodnot under a relatively high pressure. Thereupon,by a still different pitch in the screw 68, the latter raises thepressure and therefore, the temperature, of the product still higherbefore the material passes through the die 98 and into the coned nosesection 58. All the while, the rise in temperature of the product may beenhanced by the steam that can be introduced into the jacket 140 throughthe inlet 134. Die 98 operates to alleviate pressure loss in the section58 by back pressure which would otherwise tend to cause reverse movementof the product, or impede its continuous advancement. Furthermore, theagitator 102 operates to continually feed the product through the die 98uniformly and without clogging or substantial reduction in the rate ofcontinuous advancement of such product through the head 50.

Finally, in the nose section 58, by virtue of its conical configurationand the complemental shape of the screw 70, the mass of material isgradually, yet rapidly and substantially compressed as it approaches thedie 104, since the rate of flow into the section 58 remains uniformthrough the die 98 and discharge from the section 58 is at all timesimpeded by the presence of die 104. By way of example, especially when aproduct such as soybeans, field beans or field peas is being treated inapparatus 8, the pressure within section 58 should be sufliciently greatto raise the temperature of the product to a level of approximately 250F. to 300 F. measured just inboard of the final die 104 before theproduct is forced outwardly through die 104. Again it is to be notedthat the temperature rise in the product is enhanced by the presence ofsteam within the jacket 142 surrounding the section 58, as well as byintroduction of steam into section 58, if desired, via inlet 59. The useof the cone nose section 58 is an extremely important feature of thepresent process because utilization of apparatus of this type permitscontinuous, uninterrupted cooking or treatment of products as set forthabove in an economical, effective, efiicient and uniform manner withoutthe necessity of employing expensive controls and processing equipment.The cone nose section 58 serves the very important function of achievinga time-temperature ratio in the cooking of the product which iscalculated to bring the temperature to the required level withoutholding the product at this temperature for so long a period as wouldresult in harmful effects to the nutritional qualities of the product.

The product emerges from section 58 as a plurality of extruded ribbonsand which are cut into predetermined lengths by the rotating blades 114.The pellets thereby produced upon cooling of the material may be eitherground and mixed with other substances for use in that condition, orrepelleted, or the material may be fed in the form directly obtainedfrom apparatus 8.

By way of example only, and employing apparatus such as described above,it has been found that the growth inhibitor in soybeans may be destroyedor effectively repressed by processing raw, dehulled, ground, full-fatsoybeans in the following manner. If the tubes 14 and 28 are each twelvefeet long, the cylinder 36, five feet long and the head 50 about fourfeet long, it has been determined that individual particles should bepassed through the preconditioner defined by tubes 14 and 28 in a periodof approximately one and one-half to three minutes, the particles shouldthen be passed through the mixer and conditioning chamber 36 inapproximately seven to thirty seconds, and then passed through the firstsection of head 50 to steam lock die 98 in about twentyfive tothirty-five seconds. The particles are retained in the cone nose section58 for approximately seven to thirty seconds. Thus, it can be seen thatthe product may be raised from room temperature to a temperature of from250 F. to 300 F. within a relatively short period and with the growthinhibitor therein being destroyedor effectively repressed without in anyway adversely affecting the nutritive value of the product. Theutilization of compression cone section 56 permits gradual andprogressive raising of the temperature of the product to the requiredlevel of approximately 250 F. to 300 F. without the temperature of theproduct going substantially past the required point, by virtue of themanner in which the pressure on the product is instantaneously releasedas soon as the product passes through the die 104.

It is also important to note that in most instances, more efiicient andless expensive results can be obtained if the product to be treated isinitially ground or flaked in a conventional hammer mill or similarequipment, prior to being processed in apparatus 8. The method is notdependent on prior grinding of the product but more expeditioustreatment and raising of the temperature of the material to the requiredlevel is obtained with less steam being used if the product is reducedto a relatively fine particular state before processing thereof asoutlined above. Grinding or flaking of the product increases the surfacearea thereof and thereby permits the heat supplied to the product tomore quickly and efficiently raise the temperature thereof, withinapparatus 8.

Another important advantage of the instant method relates to the factthat the treatment operation may be carried out in a combinationmultiple purpose ring type and extrusion pellet mill which has beenmodified by adding an expansion pelleting assembly comprising an airlock die, air lock die clamp, coned nose section and die, modifiedscreen assembly, and the aforementioned preconditioner machines asreferred to above are also known as pellet mills and the present processgreatly extends the utility of the subject equipment in that a number ofmaterially different processing operations may be carried out in thesame machine.

If it is desired to raise the temperature to a subcritical point and tomaintain this temperature for a longer period of time (as, for example,in the treating of certain products) a section 150 terminating in asteam lock die 198 similar to die 98 is introduced just outboard of thelatter.

Section 150 includes a tubular housing 154 provided with riflng 161therewithin extending longitudinaily thereof and around the entirecircumference of its inner surface. A circular, section clamp 164similar to clamp 64 secures housing 154 to housing 54.

A screw 166 within housing 154 is coaxial with and coupled to screw 66for rotation therewith. Screw 166 is also coupled with screw 70' so thatthe latter will also rotate with screw 66.

Die 198 at the outboard end of housing 154 may be of the sameconstruction as die 98 and to this end, die 198 is provided withopenings therethrough whereby material within housing 154 and advancedby screw 166 will pass through die 198 and into section 58.

It should be pointed out, however, that even when section 150 isutilized, the product is elevated to the maximum temperature only in thecone nose section 58 and the product is held at this temperature onlyfor a short period of time, namely from approximately seven to thirtyseconds.

If a section such as 150 is utilized, and this may be desirableparticularly with seeds having a high oil content or for mixturescontaining proteinaceous vegetable material when some additional puggingor kneading action is required, the temperature of the dough would beelevated in this section approximately 10 F. to 20 F. above thetemperature of the product as it leaves the die 98 of the initialsection of the extruder or head 50. The particles are retained in thesection 150 an additional time of approximately ten to twenty seconds.The temperature of the product is ordinarily elevated approximately 10F. to 20 F. in the initial section of the extruder (measured justinboard of die 98). The temperature of the product is elevated in thecone nose section 58 approximately 25 F. to 60 F. depending upon theconfiguration of the screws used in this section and also upon thethickness of the final die 104 and the configuration of the openings 99.

It is important to note that since the maximum temperature of theproduct is achieved progressively in the cone nose section 58 as theproduct traverses this section, the product is retained at this maximumtemperature for only a very short time interval. Thus, for example, ifthe product enters section 58 at a temperature of 230 F. just outboardof the final steam lock die 98 or 198 and the product is in section 58for a matter of fifteen seconds, the maximum temperature is not achievedthroughout the entire fifteen seconds. The maximum temperature isreached only in the final several seconds of the continuous travel ofthe product through the machine. The product is then extruded throughdie 104 whereupon the temperature of the product immediately drops fromthe maximum level.

The presence of moisture in the product during the treatment process isdesirable. Thus, although these percentages are not critical to thisprocess, it has been found that good results have been obtained with amoderate moisture content in the product ranging from about 14% to 35%or even more.

The precise moisture content of the product when the maximumtemperatures are achieved is not reflected by the moisture content ofthe product after the latter passes through die 104. Thus, the moisturecontent of dehulled, ground, full-fat soybeans might be from 8% to 14%as the material enters hopper 10. The moisture content of this mixtureupon leaving the high speed mixer 36 might be about 14% to 22%. Becauseof the high temperatures imparted to the product (especially in the conenose section 58) it is impossible to obtain an accurate measurement ofmoisture immediately after the product is extruded. The high temperatureof the product will flash off as steam much of the moisture contentthereof during the period of product cooling. During this period theproduct is not in a condition of stability insofar as moisture isconcerned and measurement at the instant of 15 extrusion from die 104 isimpossible.

However, it is possible to measure the moisture of the product leavingthe high speed mixer. It can safely be assumed that the product moisturecontent at the instant of extrusion is identical or very close to themoisture content of the product when the latter leaves the high speedmixer since no water or steam is added in the extruder head 50 whentreating soybeans.

Within a period of two minutes after leaving the extruder, theseproducts will normally flash off approxi- 5 mately 5% to 10% of theirown moisture content. This results from the elevated temperature levelsachieved in the extrusion operation.

In carrying out the process of this invention, it has been found thatbest results are ordinarily achieved when the product is caused to reachthe optimum temperature level of approximately 250 F. to 300 F. in thecone nose section immediately inboard of the final die. However, thereare circumstances in which it might be desirable to alter thistemperature range slightly. For example, when treating full-fat soyproduct which is to be used by the baking industry it may be desirableto limit the maximum temperature level to as little as 225 F. to 240 F.Such limitation results from the fact that the baking industry normallyrequires some enzymic activity in the full-fat soy flour itself and thisobjective can be achieved by treating at these lower temperatures.

When it is desired to cook mixtures of cereals and ground oleaginousseeds or pulses, it may be advantageous to achieve maximum temperaturelevels somewhat higher than the optimum range of from approximately 250F.

to 300 F. Such higher temperature levels are practical and apparently dono harm to the biological value of nutrient constituents such as proteinuntil the temperatures exceed about 340 F. Manifestly, when such highertemperatures are achieved, it may be necessary to increase the rate oftravel of the product to insure that the prodnot is not kept at a hightemperature for a sufiicient length of time to harm the product.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desiredto be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A method of processing a full-fat product from the group consistingof soybeans, field beans and field peas, bengal gram, chick pea,garbanzo, lima beans, navy beans, kidney beans, pinto beans and whitebeans, and containing a heat labile growth inhibitor, comprising thesteps of continuously advancing the product along a path of travel;raising the temperature of the product to about 180 to 210 F. andincreasing the moisture content thereof in a first zone not appreciablymore than 5% to 10% within a time period of approximately one andonehalf to three minutes; and increasing the pressure of the product andraising the temperature of the same in a second zone to at leastapproximately 250 F. within a time period of less than about thirtyseconds to thereby substantially reduce the growth inhibiting effects ofsaid navy beans, kidney beans, pinto beans and white beans,

and containing a growth inhibitor, comprising the steps of continuouslyadvancing the product along a path of travel; raising the temperature ofthe product to about 180 to 210 F. and increasing the moisture contentthereof in a first zone not appreciably more than 5% to within a timeperiod of approximately one and onehalf to three minutes; and increasingthe pressure on the product and raising the temperature of the same in asecond zone to approximately 250 to 300 F. within a time period of lessthan about thirty seconds to thereby substantially reduce the growthinhibiting effects of said inhibitor.

3. A method of processing a full-fat oleaginous product from the groupconsisting of soybeans, field beans and field peas, bengal gram, chickpea, garbanzo, lima beans, navy beans, kidney beans, pinto beans andwhite beans, and containing a growth inhibitor comprising the steps ofcontinuously advancing the product along a path of travel; raising thetemperature of the product to about 180 to 210 F. and increasing themoisture content thereof in a first zone not appreciably more than 5% to10% within a time period of approximately one and onehalf to threeminutes; and increasing the pressure on the product and raising thetemperature of the same in a second zone to approximately 250 F. withina time period of between about seven and thirty seconds to therebysubstantially reduce the growth inhibiting effects of said inhibitor.

4. A method of processing a full-fat oleaginous product from the groupconsisting of soybeans, field beans and field peas, bengal gram, chickpea, garbanzo, lima beans, navy beans, kidney beans, pinto beans andwhite beans, and containing a heat susceptible growth inhibitingmaterial, comprising the steps of continuously advancing the productalong a path of travel; raising the temperature of the product to about180 to 210 F. and increasing the moisture content thereof in a firstzone not appreciably more than 5% to 10% within a time period of threeminutes and increasing the pressure on the product and raising thetemperature of the same in a second zone to at least approximately 250F. within a time period of less than about thirty seconds to therebysubstantially reduce the growth inhibiting effects of said material.

5. A method of processing a full-fat oleaginous product from the groupconsisting of soybeans, field beans and field peas, bengal gram, chickpea, garbanzo, lima beans, navy beans, kidney beans, pinto beans andwhite beans, and containing a heat susceptible growth inhibitingmaterial, comprising the steps of continuously advancing the productalong a path of travel; raising the temperature of the product to about180 to 210 F. and increasing the moisture content thereof in a firstzone not appreciably more than 5% to 10% within a time period ofapproximately one and one-half to three minutes; and increasing thepressure on the product and raising the temperature of the same in asecond zone to at least approximately 250 to 300 F. within a time periodof between about seven to thirty seconds to thereby substantially reducethe growth inhibiting eifects of said material.

6. A method of processing a full-fat oleaginous product from the groupconsisting of soybeans, field beans and field peas, bengal gram, chickpea, garbanzo, lima beans, navy beans, kidney beans, pinto beans andwhite beans, and containing a heat susceptible growth inhibitingmaterial, comprising the steps of continuously advancing the productalong a path of travel; raising the temperature of the product to aboutto 210 F. in a first zone within a time period of approximately one andone-half to three minutes; increasing the moisture content of theproduct in said first zone not appreciably more than 5% to 10%;continuously agitating the product in a mixing zone within a time periodof approximately seven to thirty seconds while increasing thetemperature thereof approximately 5 F.; and increasing the pressure onthe product and raising the temperature of the same in a third zone toapproximately 250 to 300 F. within a time period of between about sevento thirty seconds to thereby substantially reduce the growth inhibitingeffects of said material.

7. A method of processing a full-fat oleaginous product from the groupconsisting of soybeans, field beans and field peas, bengal gram, chickpea, garbanzo, lima beans, navy beans, kidney beans, pinto beans andwhite beans, and containing a heat susceptible growth inhibitingmaterial, comprising the steps of continuously advancing the productalong a path of travel; raising the temperature of the product to about180 to 210 F. and increasing the moisture content thereof in a firstzone not appreciably more than 5% to 10% Within a time period ofapproximately one and one-half to three minutes; increasing the pressureon the product and raising the temperature of the same in a second zoneto at least approximately 250 F. within a time period of less than aboutthirty seconds to thereby substantially reduce the growth inhibitingeffects of said material; and substantially instantaneously releasingthe pressure on the continuously advancing product as the same emergesfrom said second zone to quickly lower the temperature thereof.

8. A method of processing a ground, dehulled, full-fat oleaginousproduct of the group consisting of soybeans, field beans and field peas,said product containing a heat susceptible trypsin inhibiting materialand from about 8% to 14% moisture content; raising the temperature ofthe product to about 180 to 210 F. and increasing the moisture contentthereof in a first zone not appreciably more than 5% to 10% within atime period of approximately one and one-half to three minutes whilecontinuously agitating the product; continuously agitating the productin a high speed mixing zone within a time period of approximately sevento thirty seconds while increasing the temperature thereof approximately5 F. and increasing the moisture content of the product to a level offrom 14% to 22%; and increasing the pressure on the product and raisingthe temperature of the same in a third zone to approximately 250 to 300F. within a time period of between about seven to thirty seconds tothereby substantially reduce the trypsin inhibiting effects of saidmaterial.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,162,729 6/1939 Levinson et al.99-2 2,260,254 10/1941 Kruse et a1. ..5 9998 3,117,006 1/1964 Wenger99-80 3,290,155 12/1966 Mustakas et al. 9998 OTHER REFERENCES Markley,K. S.: Soybeans and Soybean Products, Interscience Publishing, Inc., NewYork, vol. II, 1951, pp. 904-908.

RAYMOND N. JONES, Primary Examiner.

HY MAN LORD, Examiner.

S. E. HEYMAN, Assistant Examiner.

